


All Shades of Blue

by snowtamale



Series: Where There's Gold [1]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, F/F, Getting Together, Pirates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-20 16:41:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18529000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowtamale/pseuds/snowtamale
Summary: Stacie knows the woman recognizes her too, but rather than give her the satisfaction of enjoying the attention, Stacie keeps her eyes on the barkeep as she struts over.“I’ll have a two tankards of mead, one for me, one for the lady.”“It’s Captain to you.”“Captain,” Stacie smirks, walking towards the woman, swagger in every step and a tankard in each hand, “that your given name?”The captain doesn’t answer, she grabs the offered tankard and takes a long drink.“My given name has to be earned.”OrBefore mutinies and pirate wars, Stacie and Aubrey were just two sailors who met in a tavern in Tortuga.





	All Shades of Blue

Stacie notices as soon as she walks into the tavern. 

It’s the posture and the walk that makes her stand out. It’s regal, refined, without the usual swagger of the ship captains that walk off the docks in Tortuga. 

Former British navy, Stacie assumes, watching as the woman crosses the rowdy room with a certain confidence. As soon as the barkeep has handed her a tankard, the woman turns towards the room. She leans against the bar, trying to seem casual, Stacie assumes, but the hand not holding the tankard keeps jumping towards the sword hanging from her side.

The sailor surveys the room, carefully scanning the crowd, pausing when she realizes that Stacie is staring right at her. Stacie smiles at her and the woman stares right back at Stacie unsmiling, just watching from over the top of her tankard as she takes sip. 

Stacie raises an eyebrow and the woman nods, almost imperceptibly. 

With a smile, Stacie drains the rest of her tankard and gets up to approach the woman at the bar when one of her crew mates grabs her by the arm, tugging in the other direction.

“What the hell?”

“The Spanish are on their way. We have to get out now.”

Stacie is ready to protest but the sound of cannon fire rings out and then the entire tavern is scrambling for the exits. 

-

It’s months before they return to Tortuga again. This time Stacie sails in on a different ship with a different captain. The town has mostly been rebuilt, some buildings still show signs of the the damage from the Spanish Navy’s raid, but most importantly the tavern remains standing and virtually unscathed. 

When Stacie enters this time, the woman from last time is already sitting on a stool at the bar. She’s at the end of the bar, near the exit, her back leaned up against the wall and an arm tapping at the bar next to a tankard.

Stacie knows the woman recognizes her too, but rather than give her the satisfaction of enjoying the attention, Stacie keeps her eyes on the barkeep as she struts over. 

“I’ll have a two tankards of mead, one for me, one for the lady.”

“It’s _Captain_ to you.”

“Captain,” Stacie smirks, walking towards the woman, swagger in every step and a tankard in each hand, “that your given name?”

The captain doesn’t answer, she grabs the offered tankard and takes a long drink.

“My given name has to be earned.”

Stacie leans in, her hand coming to rest on the Captain’s knee. She lets their noses graze, almost fully commits to the kiss, before quickly ducking her head around to speak directly into the Captain’s ear.

“What can I do to earn your given name?” Her voice is low, purposefully close to a growl and Stacie can’t help but smile when she feels the Captain’s knee twitch under her hand. 

It takes a second but then the Captain is standing and stepping backwards, away from Stacie’s touch, “What makes you think _you_ can earn it?”

Stacie smiles at the blush dusting the Captain’s cheeks, “call it a feeling.”

“A feeling?”

“You’re not saying no.”

“I’m not saying yes either.”

Stacie tilts the tankard back, taking a long swig before she speaks again, “I won’t take this any further unless you say yes. But if you say yes, I’ll tell you my name.”

“Why would I want to know your name?”

“Trust me, you want to know me.”

And then Stacie is putting her empty tankard onto the bar, pushing two gold pieces towards the barkeep, and walking out the door.

-

The Captain becomes a fixture in Stacie’s mind. No one has ever been able to resist Stacie’s teasing. No one until _the Captain_. 

It becomes a game of theirs, Stacie will sail into Tortuga every few weeks and if the Captain is standing at the bar, Stacie always sends a drink over. The Captain smiles that mysterious at her, occasionally sends a drink back but usually, she just watches Stacie. 

And every time Stacie leaves the tavern alone.

On this occasion, Stacie is already in the tavern drinking with a few friends when the Captain walks in. Dutifully, Stacie signals the bar keep for a tankard on her tab and sends it over to the Captain.

“You know, I thought by now you’d have come up with a new strategy.”

“Captain.”

“I’ve asked around about you.” 

“You have? You don’t even know my name.”

“I don’t have to,” the Captain answers, eyes flicking from Stacie’s lips to her eyes, “your face is well known in these parts.”

“I make friends easily,” Stacie deflects, sipping the last of her mead. 

“It will take more than tankards of mead to earn my name you know.”

“Maybe I’m just being polite.”

“And buying a stranger drinks is _just being polite_?”

Stacie smiles as an answer and the Captain speaks again before she can, “the drinks are never going to work on me.”

“Really?”

“You still don’t know my name.”

“No, I don’t but I got you to come over and talk to me.”

The Captain pauses at that, her drink halfway to her mouth, before she sets it back on the table and fully turns towards Stacie. 

“What are you getting out of this?”

“Why do I have to get something out of this?”

“No one does anything for free or fun. They always expect something.”

“Well then I’m no one.”

Stacie leans in, the table still between them, but their faces only inches apart. The Captain just watches but doesn’t move backwards. But when Stacie reaches a hand out to pull the Captain closer, the Captain pushes off the table, standing with a grin.

“You may have a way with words, but I know your kind.”

“Do you?”

“You enjoy the challenge, the chase. Once I give in, you’ll lose interest.”

“Why don’t you let me prove you wrong?”

“Until next time.”

-

Next time doesn’t happen the way either of them thought it would though. The next time they see each other, it’s in Port Royal, not Tortuga and the Captain is in the uniform of a British officer. 

“The uniform suits you Captain.”

“You.”

“Me.”

“How did you find me here?”

“Relax Captain. I’m here on my own business. Not to spoil yours,” Stacie answers, keeping a respectful distance between them as she looks the Captain up and down, “I didn’t realize you still wore _this_ uniform.”

“I don’t often.”

The Captain looks around at the all the other people on the docks. None of them have paid them any attention. The sailors are too busy ogling a group of passing women and the merchants are too busy counting their gold. Stacie allows the Captain to drag her away from the docks, up the cobblestone streets and into the first narrow alleyway she finds.

“What are you really doing here?” The Captain asks, roughly pushing Stacie against the brick wall of the building.

“I don’t owe you any explanations about the business I conduct, Captain,” Stacie replies, sharply, rubbing the part of her shoulder that hit the wall. “I didn’t follow you here if that’s what you think. I have better things to be doing.”

The Captain looks almost remorseful for a second before she says, “Aubrey.”

“What?”

“My name is Aubrey.”

“Stacie,” she returns, holding her hand out with a grin.

Aubrey looks at the offered hand for a long moment before she shakes it. She immediately yanks Stacie’s sleeve up and at the lack of a brand, she looks up at Stacie questioningly.

“It’s only fair if you show me yours,” Stacie teases and Aubrey rolls her eyes before she pulls up her own sleeve to reveal a shiny ‘P’ emblazoned into her skin.

“Naughty.”

“Wrong place, wrong time.”

“That’s what they all say. How do you have that brand _and_ that uniform?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I have time.”

Aubrey jerks her arm back, taking her hand out of Stacie’s and takes a full step back before she says, “Meet me tonight, on the docks.”

“I’ll see you tonight, Aubrey.”

-

The docks are serene at night. It almost feels like a completely different world than the docks during the daylight. There are no sailors shouting at each other from ship to ship, no merchants trying to sell their goods, no people at all almost. 

Aubrey is there, standing at the edge of the docks, still in her uniform, looking as polished as ever.

“You came.”

“I was curious. Not many people with that brand are still walking around to show it off.”

“Why don’t you have one?”

“I’m not a pirate,” Stacie replies with an easy smile. “Why do you have one?”

“How much do you know about the cargo the East India Trading company ships?”

“Enough to know I’d never want to sail for them.”

“The cargo was a hull full of women.”

“You’re Aubrey Posen.”

“How-”

“I’ve heard the rumors. I always thought you were a myth. The patron saint of stolen women.”

“I have morals.”

“I always wanted to meet you.”

“It doesn’t seem fair that you know who I am and I still don’t know who you are.”

“You’ve read my maps, I’m sure.”

“A. Conrad?” Aubrey asks, putting the pieces together, “you said your name was Stacie.”

“Anastasia is a mouthful. Stacie is easier to shout,” Stacie explains with a wink as she takes a half step into Aubrey’s space.

“I’m not going to end up in bed with you,” Aubrey mutters, taking a half step forward as well, bringing them toe to toe.

“Who said anything about a bed?”

Aubrey kisses the smirk from Stacie’s lips.

//

Aubrey doesn’t know why she keeps coming back to Tortuga. She has no business here, no interest in the girls, the drink, or the revelry. And it’s been more than a fortnight since she and Stacie have crossed paths. 

After their _encounter_ in Port Royal, they’ve only seen each other once, across the tavern just before a brawl erupted. It makes Aubrey wonder, if it was just the chase. Even if it was just the challenge of finally learning her name and bedding her, she’d still expected to at least see Stacie in passing. 

But there’s been nothing. 

Even the barkeep hasn’t seen Stacie come through the tavern doors in a month. 

-

Aubrey seeks out a bounty that brings her to Port Royal, but Stacie’s not there either. 

-

Aubrey’s not looking for Stacie. She’s stopped caring about Stacie’s whereabouts.

It’s coincidental that she’s taken five different bounties that have led her to five different ports. 

It doesn’t mean anything. 

She spends most nights in port drinking at the local tavern, paying for her own mead. 

It doesn’t mean anything.

She buys new maps from local merchants, always stamped in the corner with _A. Conrad_.

It doesn’t mean anything.

The next time Aubrey returns to Tortuga, she promises herself to put Stacie out of her mind. 

(She winds up breaking that promise.)

-

Without any trace of Stacie and with more than enough gold in her pocket, Aubrey rounds up her crew and sails north, to Clew Bay. It’s far enough from London and filled with enough pirates that she won’t be in danger of capture, but close enough to her father that she can see him regularly. 

(It’s not because the locals say their words with the same lilt and accent as Stacie.)

After a grueling week, filled with too many near run ins with the navy combined with a thick persistent fog that has made navigating c and poor weather, Aubrey takes up her crew on their offer to buy her a drink at the pub on the edge of the docks. 

She hangs out with the sailors the obligatory one drink before she retreats to drinking at the bar, allowing her crew to cut loose without their captain watching them. She’s hunched over her second drink, eyes staring down the length of the bar vacantly. 

Another person sidles up to the seat beside hers but Aubrey doesn’t react to the newcomer’s presence. 

“What- not even a hello?”

The voice magnetic and Aubrey finds herself turning to look at the figure next to her. Stacie is grinning at her, her face a little more tan than the last time they saw each other. Aubrey doesn’t return the smile and instead looks back at her drink, taking a long pull.

“You.”

“Me,” Stacie says, her voice more soft than flirty now. 

She reaches out to touch Aubrey’s shoulder but Aubrey flinches away from her touch. Stacie frowns opening her mouth to say something but before she can, Aubrey abandons her half-finished drink on the bar, pushing away from the counter. 

She heads straight for the pub’s exit and Stacie is hot on her heels.

“Hey-” Stacie starts, with a loose grasp on Aubrey’s arm.

Aubrey keeps her eyes trained on where Stacie’s hand is on her arm, avoiding Stacie’s gaze, “let go of my arm.”

Stacie drops her elbow immediately. Aubrey continues on her way towards the tavern exit. Stacie follows, but at a distance. 

“Aubrey,” Stacie calls out after her, “Aubrey. Aubrey!”

Aubrey stops and turns so quickly that Stacie almost walks right into her, “What do you want?”

“I went looking for you in Tortuga,” Stacie answers, rocking backwards onto her heels, surprised at Aubrey’s hostile tone, “but no one’s seen you around.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“Aubrey…”

“What do you want? You chased me, you got me, you left,” Aubrey snaps, finally meeting Stacie’s stare for a moment before looking away again, “What else do we have to say to each other?”

“That’s not what happened Aubrey.”

“Really.” 

“Really.”

“I went back to Tortuga more than once a fortnight and you were nowhere to be found.”

“My work kept me away.”

“Explain.”

Stacie scans the street, rubbing at the cuff of her right sleeve absently.

There are a few lone townspeople still walking up and down the street. A few drunk sailors stumble out of the same pub they exited minutes prior. One begins retching in the middle of the street and the other two attempt to drag their friend back towards the docks. 

A passing guard eyes them curiously. Aubrey glares at him until Stacie nudges her and jerks her head in the direction of a narrow alleyway. Aubrey exhales noisily but follows Stacie back towards a narrow, homey inn. 

Stacie leads Aubrey up the side staircase and into a small room on the third landing. The amount of furniture makes the room feel cramped. There’s a small square table that runs right up against the edge of the bed with two stools crammed underneath the bed. 

Stacie pulls out the stools and gestures for Aubrey to sit at the table, while she squeezes around the room, to light the lone oil lamp. She carefully walks over to the table. As she sets the lamp down on the center of the table, her sleeves rise above her wrists briefly, exposing deep, raw, wounds on her right wrist.

“Stacie-” Aubrey’s hand reaches towards Stacie instinctively, “what happened?”

Stacie steps back out of her reach, “some people ask for my help more nicely than others.”

Aubrey sits back up on her stool, studying Stacie’s face. Stacie meanwhile busies herself with folding her cloak to avoid Aubrey’s gaze. 

“Who did that to you?”

“Does it matter?”

“It does to me.”

Stacie looks up from the cloak in her lap, finally meeting Aubrey’s eyes. Aubrey stares right back and it’s all Aubrey can do to keep her eyes from falling to Stacie’s lips. She licks her lips subconsciously, finally looking away so that she can think again.

“Who did that Stacie?”

“What are you going to do Aubrey? Hunt them down and punish them?”

_Yes._

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Give me your hand.”

“Aubrey-”

Aubrey holds out a hand, palm up, on the table, glaring at Stacie until Stacie lays her right hand in Aubrey’s. Aubrey produces a clean cloth from her coat pocket. She douses the cloth with some liquid from her flask before gently pressing the damp cloth into the wound. 

Stacie hisses at the sting of alcohol on her raw skin but she doesn’t move her hand from Aubrey’s. She studies Aubrey’s face as Aubrey carefully cleans her wounds.

“Do you have an extra shirt?”

Stacie points at the chest behind Aubrey’s stool. Aubrey digs around until she finds the shirt. She momentarily releases Stacie’s hand to rip a strip of the shirt off the bottom for a makeshift bandage. As she dresses Stacie’s wrist, Aubrey speaks, her voice low and serious,

“You should sail with us on my ship.”

“And smuggle sacks of flour from London to Clew Bay.”

“We’re redistributing resources to those who are in need.”

Aubrey has finished wrapping the bandage around Stacie’s wrist, but continues to hold Stacie’s hand with one hand. Stacie stares at their joined hands and makes no move to stop their hand hold. 

“I’m no sailor Aubrey. I’m a cartographer.”

“You can learn.”

//

“You’re tying that knot wrong.”

“Why show me how to tie it then?” Stacie asks, not so subtly stepping backwards into Aubrey’s warm body. 

Aubrey instinctively catches Stacie around her waist, keeping them both from toppling up the staircase. 

“Stacie-” Aubrey begins, clearing her throat and fixing her gaze dead ahead when she realizes she can see down Stacie’s shirt, “I’m your captain.”

“So shouldn’t you be _showing me the ropes_?” Stacie teases, turning around to face Aubrey.

Aubrey knows her face is flushed, she feels hot all over, and it takes all the self control she can muster to take a step to the side, so that she can pass Stacie on the stairs. She finds her voice again when she’s put three steps between them, 

“Try again.”

“I can’t remember how,” Stacie argues, her voice innocent, “Can you show me again?”

“Stacie, if you’re not even going to try to learn the knots, there will be consequences.”

“You’d punish me?” 

Aubrey rolls her eyes at the suggestive wink Stacie shoots her. She’s barely turned her back on Stacie when Stacie finally gets the knot right. She throws her hands up in celebration and Aubrey rushes up the stairs to check the knot. 

Aubrey pulls at the knot a couple of times, but steps away, shaking her head with a faint smile on her face. 

“So, do I get a reward?”

“A reward?” Aubrey responds, incredulous, “that’s a basic knot, everyone knows-”

“Reward me Aubrey,” Stacie interrupts, a half-formed smile on her lips when finally leans in and Aubrey kisses her.

Stacie is wrapping her arms around Aubrey’s waist when the sound of wood creaking, makes them jump away from each other. Aubrey sprints up the steps, looking ridiculously out onto the starboard side of the ship while Stacie looks around for a rope to tie. 

The ship sways a bit and the wood creaks again.

“It was just the ship,” Aubrey sighs, finally relaxing her posture again, “of course.”

“Where _is_ the rest of the crew?” Stacie asks, looking around, finally realizing that the deck is a lot quieter than usual.

“I told them to enjoy their freedom until tomorrow morning.”

“Really?”

Stacie whips around and climbs the staircase so she can look Aubrey in the eyes. Aubrey shakes her head, flustered. 

“Not because-” Aubrey starts, gesturing at the space between them, “I just thought they should get one last night off.”

“For the crew’s sake,” Stacie nods along.

“Exactly.”

( _Kiss me._ )

Stacie makes the first move, a rising into her toes from the second to last step and into Aubrey’s space. Aubrey’s eyes fall to Stacie’s lips immediately. With Stacie so close, Aubrey can hear her heartbeat ringing in her ears and feel the sweat prickling at her palms. Breathing the same air as Stacie is intoxicating.

When she looks back up into Stacie’s eyes, she knows she’s been caught. 

Aubrey rocks forward, pressing her mouth to Stacie’s, kissing that smug grin off of Stacie’s lips. Stacie groans, her hands grasping at Aubrey’s waist, pulling at Aubrey’s shirt until it becomes rumpled and untucked. Aubrey’s untangling Stacie’s bun, but accidentally tugging harder than she means to. 

Stacie gasps and then groans into her mouth when Aubrey accidentally pulls at her hair again and Aubrey has to pull away for a second to _breathe_.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“No, I mean, pulling your hair-”

“It was fine.”

Aubrey stares back at her with wide eyes, mouth moving wordlessly for the better part of a minute. Finally, her brain kicks into gear again and Aubrey offers Stacie her hand. 

“The captain’s quarters have a four-post bed.”

“I spent today learning how to tie knots and you have a four-post bed?”

“The knots are for sailing!”

“I’m sure they’re multipurpose.”

“Stacie…”

“What?”

Aubrey begins stepping backwards, away from Stacie. With every step she takes, she undoes one of her buttons. Halfway to the captain’s quarters, all of her buttons are undone, and Aubrey’s shirt hangs open. 

Stacie swallows hard, hungrily taking in Aubrey’s new state of dress. Aubrey doesn’t hesitate to finish shucking off her shirt. She tosses the shirt at Stacie’s head and turns to walk into her living quarters. Not once does she pause to see if Stacie is following her.

Stacie gapes at Aubrey’s retreating figure, barely getting her brain back in time to rush after Aubrey into the captain’s quarters and onto the four post bed.


End file.
